#36 - Royal Thai, Dallas TX

When it comes to my parents, our eating out options are pretty simple, and usually boil down to Italian, Chinese, Thai or pizza.  When they're here I add in Mexican as an option, and every once in a while will throw in an American option, just because. Regardless, I always check out the menu online, to make sure there's something they can eat, since they're vegetarian. 

It was late afternoon by the time we got to Dallas for the bowl trip.  We ate a really late lunch, so we all napped when we arrived at the hotel.  Eventually we were hungry for dinner, and decided on Royal Thai.  It's located in a strip mall, and looks very indistinct from the outside.  But as we pulled up we saw it was crowded which is definitely a good sign.  Happily we were seated immediately.

We were kind of cold, so we ordered hot tea.  Usually in Asian restaurants the tea is served to the table in a ceramic pot, and they include small cups.  This time, we got individual cups of hot water with tea bags.  I was a little surprised, but the tea was hot and good so oh well.

My dad suggested we start with the mango rolls

Fresh mango, green leaves jicama, mit and vermicelli noodles wrapped in soft rice paper. 
Served with Thai vinaigrette

They were really delicious.  They were cold, which I wasn't really expecting, but that worked perfectly with the ingredients in the roll.  And the ingredients all worked really well together.  The vinaigrette was sweet, and it lent an awesome flavor. 

For dinner I went with the shrimp cha-cha

Wok-tossed shrimp with Thai herbs, young peppercorn, bell pepper, jalapeno,
green bean, chili-garlic sauce, and Thai basil

Wow, this was awesome.  I had never seen young peppercorns before, so was a little thrown off by the look of them.  But I figured they were just for garnish and to add flavor, so I didn't try them.  The beans and peppers were cooked tender-crisp, just the way I like them.  I acccidentally took a bite of straight jalapeno, and immediately regretted it.  So I took the rest of them out so I wouldn't make same mistake again.  The shrimp were huge and delicious.  The sauce had tons of flavor, and I poured it over my rice.

Will I go back?  Definitely, next time I'm in Dallas.  My parents actually went back the night of the game.  I was at 6th Street Uptown with friends, but they said it was just as good the second time around.